Indians notes: Giambi reaches 2,000 career hits

There was history made Sunday at Progressive Field. The history was made, fittingly enough, by the Indians oldest player. Leading off the bottom of the ninth inning of the Indians' 2-1 loss to the Mets, 42-year-old Jason Giambi floated a soft single into shallow left field for the 2,000th hit of his major-league career. Giambi's first major-league hit came as a member of the Oakland A's, a single, on May 8, 1995. "What an incredible journey to get here," he said. "All the stuff I've gone through and experienced on the way to getting that hit - but I'd trade that hit in for us to get a 'W.' " It may have been one of the softer hits of Giambi's career. "A chip shot down the line that got us started, but unfortunately we didn't get the win," he said. "It feels like 4,000 (hits). It's been a long journey, but I'll treasure it." In 172 at-bats for the Indians this season, Giambi is hitting .186 with eight home runs and 29 RBI.Starting blocks If the Indians don't make it to the postseason it won't be because the Tribe's starting pitchers didn't do their part. At the start of the season, the Indians starting rotation was considered the biggest weakness on the team. It's now nearing the end of the season, and the rotation is clearly the strength of the team. Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Corey Kluber, Zach McAllister and Scott Kazmir have done the heavy lifting. Those five pitchers since the all-star break have a combined 3.36 ERA. However, their combined won-lost record since the break is just 16-16, thanks to the Indians' sputtering offense. The numbers on the Tribe's five starters since the all-star break: Masterson (14 starts) 6-5, 3.52 ERA; Jimenez (eight starts) 3-5, 2.22 ERA; Kluber (five starts) 1-0, 2.53 ERA; McAllister (nine starts) 3-3, 4.72 ERA; Kazmir (nine starts) 3-3, 3.42 ERA. The Indians' overall record since the break is 25-22.Danny boy Danny Salazar wasn't involved in the decision in Sunday's game but he did lower his ERA from 3.00 to 2.92 by pitching four innings and allowing one run, while striking out eight. Salazar is just the third Indians pitcher since 1916 to have at least eight strikeouts in four innings or less of work. The others: Luis Tiant on Aug. 17, 1967 and Jeremy Sowers on July 13, 2008. Giambi, for one, is very impressed by Salazar. "That kid's a treasure. He's going to be incredible in this game for a long time," said Giambi. "He has an unbelievable arm. You're going to see him dominate for a lot of years."Notes Mike Aviles, who pinch ran for Giambi after Giambi singled leading off the ninth, was thrown out trying to steal second, and then was thrown out of the game for arguing the call with umpire Gary Darling. ... After hitting a home run in his last at-bat Saturday, Asdrubal Cabrera went 0-for-3 on Sunday and is now in a 1-for-22 slide. . . The Indians will conclude the homestand with a three-game series against Kansas City. The pitching matchups: tonight at 7:05 p.m., Jimenez (10-9, 3.79) vs. Ervin Santana (8-8, 3.33). Tuesday at 7:05 p.m., McAllister (7-8, 3.97) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (13-10, 4.19). Wednesday at 12:05 p.m., Kazmir (8-7, 4.17) vs. James Shields (10-8, 3.43).